


the glow

by ghstboys



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Asexual Charlie Weasley, Everybody needs therapy, Everyone is Queer, Minor Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Nymphadora Tonks, Nonbinary Sirius Black, Polyamory, Punk Tonks, Queerplatonic Relationships, Recreational Drug Use, Roommates, Trans Character, Trans Fleur Delacour, background Sirius Black/Remus Lupin - Freeform, mostly weed, no one knows how to have a functional relationship honestly, remus has insomnia, remus is a grad student, stoner charlie weasley, the weasleys aren't white
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:13:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29812404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghstboys/pseuds/ghstboys
Summary: remus lupin gets a lot more then he bargained for when his downstairs neighbor sublets their apartment to their cousin and their two best friends.
Relationships: Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley, Fleur Delacour/Charlie Weasley/Nymphadora Tonks, Fleur Delacour/Nymphadora Tonks, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Nymphadora Tonks/Charlie Weasley, Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin





	the glow

**Author's Note:**

> i want to be clear that while i like remus and tonks as a ship in my own headcanons, i acknowledge that it was poorly written in canon as a way to erase the queerness of both characters. remus and tonks and pretty much every character in this fic are queer as fuck, without a question.

When Sirius had told him that he was subletting his apartment to his younger cousin, and their two friends, Remus hadn’t really been sure what to expect. He knew about the cousin, Tonks, only peripherally - from a postcard they had sent Sirius’ on his fridge, or a drunken anecdote about how Sirius had pierced their ears when they were in high school. They were still an abstract, though, Remus had no picture of them in his head. And he knew less about the roommates, really only that they existed, their names. Charlie and Fleur.

“They’re alright.” Sirius had assured him, over a cup of coffee in Remus’ kitchen. “They’re cool. You’ll like them.” Remus wasn’t entirely sure about that, but it didn’t really matter. It was Sirius’ apartment, not his, it wasn’t as though he had a say. Somewhere in his mind, he wanted to tell Sirius to stay, wasn’t everything fine as it was? But Sirius' mind had been made up by this point, and Remus was afraid he would be disappointed if he said anything. They weren't even dating, not really, it was some weird, unspoken thing, where one of them usually ended up in the other's bed at the end of the night, and the house had become more like a house than what it was supposed to be, two split apartments. Both of them had keys to the other’s place, and more often than not, where you found one of them, the other was nearby. It had been like this for most of the time they'd known each other, since they were kids. But now Sirius was leaving, to Europe of all places, a whole ocean away, and though Remus could’ve asked to go and Sirius would have said yes, he really couldn’t up and leave, not the same way his friend could. He had school. He had a cat. He had a family. No, Remus had too many obligations where Sirius had none, so he couldn’t go to Europe on a whim, for some undetermined amount of time, and he was too proud, or too stubborn, or too something to beg Sirius to stay. 

So he didn’t, and instead he watched as things were packed away into a van and taken to storage, or into boxes packed into the basement of the house. The house was one of those old ones that had been bought up years ago, and then turned into apartments - One small and cozy one upstairs, and one downstairs that had always seemed too large and too small for Sirius Black all at once. 

It was not too small, however, for its three new inhabitants. Remus watched from the swing on the porch, as they unloaded things out of a beat up old truck. A boy, with dark hair and a billion freckles, wearing flip flops, cut off jean shorts and a knit sweater, dragged a disgusting looking couch onto the sidewalk, and turned back to the truck to collect more boxes. Then, there was a girl, blonde, and delicate, who looked so much like an angel it would not have been too surprising if she had sprouted wings right then and there.

And then, of course, there was Tonks. Tonks was an entity unto themselves, really, with bright purple hair that practically hurt Remus’ eyes to look at, in ratty overalls and a tank top. They looked nothing like Sirius at all, really, and yet he could see how the two of them were related. It was just something about them, joyful carelessness. Despite himself, Remus grinned a bit, and then crushed his cigarette under his shoe and leaned over the edge of the porch railing. Tonks looked up at him, squinting. 

“Lupin?” They said, though it came out more of a question then a statement. 

“Just Remus.” He replied. Nobody called him by his last name, and it felt strange and formal, especially coming from them.

“Alright,” Tonks said, still squinting. “I’m Tonks.” Then, with a grin, they added, “ _Just_ Tonks.” 

“Right. Uh, well..” Remus paused, and then remembered, “There’s room in the basement, if you need to, dunno. Store anything.” He said, nodding at the truck. Honestly, now that he was thinking of it, there wasn’t really _that_ much room in the basement, and he made a mental note to move some of his things. 

“Probably not.” Tonks said. “I mean, this is pretty much it.” They gestured vaguely at the truck. “You should come over later, though. We’re having drinks, y’know, housewarming and shit.” 

He probably wouldn’t, but he shrugged. “Maybe, I’ve got… School stuff.” Running a hand through his hair, he turned back to the door, but not before he added, a bit awkwardly, “Nice to meet you, Tonks.”

They laughed, and as he was going back inside, he heard them call out, “Nice to meet you too, just Remus!”

They, he decided as he went up the creaky stairs, would be much different neighbors than Sirius had been. He didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing yet, but he figured he’d see soon enough. 

____________________________________________________________________________

“So,” Tonks said with a mischievous smile, flopping down on the couch that was now crammed against the wall between two stacks of boxes (they still weren’t quite sure if they’d need to put anything in the basement, but the apartment was pretty jam packed with stuff). “What do we think of the new neighbor?” 

Charlie, who was sitting on the floor lighting a joint, shrugged. “He seems fine.” 

“Quiet.” Fleur added. 

“I think,” Tonks begun. “That he’s going to be more fun than he’s letting on.” Honestly, they weren’t entirely sure what to make of Remus, but that was what they were hoping for. “Best case scenario at least, right?”

“Does it really matter?” Fleur replied, kicking her bare feet up on the coffee table. “It’s not like we’re living with him, or anything.”

“I mean, it’s better to get along with your neighbors. Besides,” Tonks said. “I think he’s cute.”

“You think everyone is cute.” Charlie rolled his eyes. 

Tonks stuck out their tongue. “Everyone except you.” It was true, though. Tonks was the kind of person who could always find the best parts of people. Like the freckles on Charlie’s shoulders, or how Fleur looked in the morning, before she’d had time to fix her hair or anything.

Or Remus. The funny smile he’d given them, his messy curls, his beat up sneakers.. 

And then Charlie was nudging them, offering the joint and snapping them out of their thoughts. Nobody needed to say anything, it was clear that Fleur and Charlie both knew what Tonks was thinking. Sometimes, Tonks thought to themselves, it was almost as though their friends could read their mind. 

Charlie and Tonks had been friends for as long as either of them could remember. Their parents had been close, and really, the two of them were rarely without each other - Either Tonks was at the Weasleys, where they fit in so perfectly with the gaggle of children that Molly, Charlie’s mother, treated them like they were her own child, or Charlie was at Tonks’, the two of them sprawled out on the living room carpet, surrounded by legos or books or crayons. When Tonks thought of soulmates, they thought of Charlie, even though it was never like they’d get married, or anything like that. It was just.. They fit. Like puzzle pieces.

And then there was Fleur, who had been Tonks’ first girlfriend - there had been others, lots, but it had never been anything serious. Part of that was because Tonks was flighty, didn’t like the idea of having some settled down relationship where they weren’t supposed to kiss or even look at anyone else. But Fleur had been the first one who stuck around. She had never seemed to mind how things were with Tonks and Charlie, and then one day, they were all holed up in Tonks’ bedroom, drinking cheap wine and getting stoned, and everything had somehow clicked into place. It wasn’t anything big, it was just something they all realized. All of them, together, lying in a pile on the carpet and Charlie was playing with Fleur’s hair and telling some stupid joke and she laughed even though it wasn’t funny at all, and all of it just made sense.

From then on, it had been the three of them. They didn’t call it anything, there wasn’t really anything to call it that really sounded right. It was just that the three of them made sense. 

Not a lot had changed, not really, besides Charlie bringing Tonks and Fleur both home for the holidays. That, and the fact that almost every night they fell asleep together, Tonks sprawled out with Fleur curled up next to them on one side and Charlie on the other. There was that, and then the unspoken things. Like that Tonks looked at everyone, and that was just how they were, or that sometimes Charlie disappeared into his own room for days at a time, and the others knew not to bother him - Sometimes, he just needed to be alone. Or that time that Fleur had kissed Charlie’s brother Bill on New Years Eve. They could all make their own decisions, have what they wanted, and come back to each other at the end of the day. 

“I invited him over.” Tonks said, after awhile. 

“Oh?” Charlie replied, looking up with raised eyebrows.

“I don’t think he’ll come.” Tonks hopped up from the couch, digging through a box nearby and pulling out a bottle of wine. “But I invited him.” They popped the cork off, and took a swig. “So make yourselves presentable. Don’t want to scare him off, you know.” 


End file.
